Kimkim Trip Reviews for India

Excellent Trip! Only wish we had more time :)

Hotel Reviews

Francis Residence

Mr. Francis and Ruby were very kind and thougtful. Clean rooms, good care, excellent location.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel PepperVine

Thekkady, Kumily, Kerala

The sheets, curtains, shower curtain were initially moldy/dirty. We requested a clean change and they did this very quickly. However, the walls still had black mold and the sheets were wet with humidity. The service and food were good but I would likely not recommend for the cleanliness factor.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Humidity control. Better cleaning.

Marari Beach Resort - CGH

Very cool resort, right on the beach! Excellent, food, pool, activities, etc. Great place to wind down after a week of activities. Really greatful to the staff and resort for their hospitality.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Fragrant Nature Munnar

Cannot beat the views! Very clean and comfortable. Munnar was the highlight of the trip because we had this hotel to relax in after a day of intensive hiking.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Cochin Sightseeing

Cochin

Sebastian, our guide, was great!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half Day Hike to Sevenmalai Hills - Tea Museum Tour

Munnar

Great experience hiking in and around the seven hills. A real highlight of the trip. We had a bit of a rock scramble and would recommend proper shoes for this and Periyar. We're not athletes by any means and made the treck just fine.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Spice Plantation Walk in Periyar

India

Enjoyed this experience, wish I had brought proper hiking shoes for the mud. If I were to go again I would do both the Periyar hike + the raft ride. It was a bit far to travel (8 hrs) for the "plantation" tour (1 hr) and park walk (2 hr). Learned lots about spices and plants! Super fun!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Jungle Walk in Periyar National Park

India

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Marari - Alleppey: Day Cruise aboard Houseboat

Marari

Did not do this.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Free Day at Marari Beach

Marari

Could not say enough about how cool this resort is!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Marari - Cochin - Delhi (AI834 - 20:30 hrs)

Cochin

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

My girlfriend and I had a fantastic time on our guided tour in Leh and Ladakh in November 2022. The scenery there was breathtaking (literally - it's very high!), and all the monasteries and temples we saw were very interesting to see and learn about. We had an extremely knowledgeable guide with us the whole time, and a driver who navigated the city of Leh and the surrounding area with impressive ease. The guide knew all about everywhere we went and was really helpful in sharing his own experiences growing up in the region and practicing Buddhism - it all made for what felt like a very personal welcome into the area and culture.

I unfortunately got sick from some sort of food poisoning, which forced us to miss the trip to Nubra Valley, but I was impressed with the agility of Ravi, my tour guide, and the whole Active India team to adjust the itinerary on the fly while making sure I had the help I needed while I was sick. I would recommend working with this team and our particular tour guide and driver for sure.

Pros: Our driver, Satish, was incredible and one of the best parts of the trip. He was always punctual, helpful, kind, and gave good advice. He was a careful and attentive driver, and I always felt safe though the driving conditions were very unusual for me.

The guides who led the spice tour and the Munnar hike were our favorites from the trip. Both were very friendly and their knowledge level was impressive. Also the spice tour guide did recommend his brother's shop to us and the prices were very reasonable.

Favorite activities were the cooking demonstration, the martial arts demonstration, both the jungle and mountain hikes, and the house boat. The destinations were all beautiful and interesting, and the hotels in Periyar and Marari were both wonderful.

Cons:
Though our tours in Cochin were all very informative and interesting, it was clear that our guide had some arrangement with the shops and tuktuks that he recommended. The interactions were uncomfortable and the prices very high (70 USD/5700 INR for a simply made skirt). After the first store, I was put off from shopping during the rest of the trip.

I felt unprepared with regard to tipping, as it seems a very complicated issue in India. There was no information on what to bring/how to dress, and so we were also unprepared for leeches and the more rugged hikes.

The Thattekad Bird Sanctuary is not worth stopping unless you arrive in the early morning, and the hotel in Munnar was challenging with regard the smell/cleanliness and lack of AC.

Overall it was a wonderful experience, and I plan to return to India in the future.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel PepperVine

Thekkady, Kumily, Kerala

The hotel and grounds are gorgeous, and the restaurant was one of the best we experienced while in India. They also serve beer and wine, which was not usual according to our experience.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Abad Dutch Bungalow

Kochi, Kerala

This was a nice, clean hotel with a good restaurant.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Clouds Valley

Munnar, Kerala

This hotel was the dirtiest that we experienced, with a strong sewage smell permeating the room. There was visible mold all over the bathroom ceiling and no AC.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Install AC in some rooms, improve ventilation in the bathrooms, remove the existing mold.

Royal Riviera Hotel

The hotel was beautiful but amenities and cleanliness were not on a level with some of the other hotels we visited.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Deshadan Cliff & Beach Resort

Kerala

The hotel was nice and the restaurant had a large menu. The staff here was incredible.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Closer to the beach

Staff

The staff were all very accommodating and helpful. Any and all requests were fulfilled immediately.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Abad Turtle Beach Resort

Mararikulam, Alappuzha, Kerala

This resort was amazing. There was a beautiful, private beach and many amenities. While we were there, almost everyone from our group tried the spa and it was fantastic as well. The food was also good.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Varkala - Marari

Marari

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Arrival Cochin (Arrival at 9:05 AM)

Cochin

It was very easy to find our driver, and he waited patiently for our friends to arrive and for us to have a cup of coffee. There was no stress involved.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cochin Sightseeing

Cochin

Cochin was amazing and our guide was clearly very knowledgeable about the city. All tours were very informative, and he even pointed out interesting plants, trees, and landmarks as we walked around the city.

Quality of Experience

The tours were very interesting and the guide was very well informed.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

It was clear that our guide had some arrangement with the shops and tuktuks that he recommended. The interactions were uncomfortable and the prices very high ($70 for a simple skirt). After the first store, I was put off from shopping during the rest of the trip.

Transport

Visit to Thattekad and Drive to Munnar

Munnar

At the time we visited the bird sanctuary, not many birds or other animals were active. It was just a hot hike and we had to pick leeches off of our skin at the end. It didn't seem worth the time spent.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half Day Hike to Sevenmalai Hills - Tea Museum Tour

Munnar

The hike was incredible, with some of the best views we saw throughout the trip. The tea museum was okay but not as interesting as other tours.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guide who did the hike brought along fruit for all of us to try and was very knowledgeable about the local plants and the life of the tea collectors.

Transport

Munnar to Periyar

Periyar

Scenery along the drive was nice and we were able to stop for some really nice photos.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Jungle Walk in Periyar National Park

India

We saw many interesting plant and animal species. The guide was knowledgeable and kind.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Transfer to Kumarakom

Kumarakom

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Drive to Varkala

Varkala

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Free Day in Varkala

Varkala

Varkala was nice, but I felt like shopping was limited and would have preferred to have less time here overall.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Free Day at Marari Beach

Marari

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Marari to Cochin and Departure Tour Concludes (Departure at 7:55 PM)

Cochin

Again, the driver was one of the best parts of our trip. He was always very punctual and kind, and seemed a very careful and attentive driver.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Lovely trip. Great help in planning the trip by Ravi who was knowledgeable, kind, gracious and really made us feel that he cared for us to have a great trip.

Our guides were very insightful and welcomes d us with grace. Special mention for Giriraj, Harish and Jitendra. Our driver was also incredibly kind (Rahul) and brought a smile to my daughter every day.

My only constructive feedback would be:
-just as restaurants in India ask westerners « how spicy do you want it » this should be asked as well to the guests. We sometimes felt too protected , experiencing an abstract visit taking us by car from one historic site to another and then to a « hygenic » restaurant. The great service that Ravi offered was to pivot and allow us to change plans last second in order to get spend time in markets and just walk around with everyday people.m which was also important to us.

- just a slightly negative note on our hotel in Delhi. After great hotels across all other cities we visited, this was definitely a grade below.

That said, KimKim and using Active India was the best decision. Ravi was truly a marvelous host as were the individual guides who shared the love and knowledge they have of this marvelous country - INDIA.

WE HAD AN AMAZING JOURNEY

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Amet Haveli

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Royal Heritage Haveli

Khatipura, Jaipur, Rajasthan

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Grand Mercure Agra

Agra

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Udman Ferns N Petals

New Delhi, Delhi

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Udaipur Sightseeing

Udaipur

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Jaipur Sightseeing and Spending time with elephants

Jaipur

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Jaipur - Agra via Abhaneri

Agra

Abhaneri is worth the detour

Agra - Delhi (Train - 1745/1930hrs)

Delhi

Part of a visit is trying to blend in and not being accompanied or guided. So we loved this experience.

Quality of Experience

Full Day Delhi Sightseeing

Delhi

Great guide.

We have had an amazing experience planning our trip to India with Ravi. The itinerary suggested was perfect and met our brief so well. Suggested changes from us were implemented quickly with excellent advice and help from Ravi. Response to messages was alway quick and appropriate. I would thoroughly recommend Ravi and Kimkim for planning your trip.
Thank you Ravi and I hope we can travel to India soon once we have the visa issue sorted.

Jit, my guide in Delhi was excellent as was driver Pushkar. I particularly enjoyed visiting Pushkar.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Udman Ferns N Petals

New Delhi, Delhi

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Grand Mercure Agra

Agra

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Dera Rawatsar

Jaipur

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Pushkar Palace

Bhattiyani Chohatta Udaipur, Rajasthan

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Arrival Delhi

New Delhi International Airport (DEL)

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Delhi Full Day Sightseeing

Delhi

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Very informative guide

Transport

Agra Sightseeing

Agra

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Taj Mahal at Sunrise and Drive to Jaipur

Jaipur

Sites were beautiful. Guide was good but not very personable.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Jaipur Sightseeing Tour + Village jeep ride

Jaipur

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Jaipur - Pushkar

Pushkar

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Pushkar Drive to Ajmer -Delhi (Train 1545/2240hrs) - departure (Depart by Etihad Airways EY211 on September 21, 2022 at 0445)

New Delhi International Airport (DEL)

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Trip Concludes in Delhi

New Delhi International Airport (DEL)

It is not an easy airport to navigate including access to the free WiFi so it would be helpful to add some of that practical info to future travelers

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ravi was quick to respond to our inquiry about booking a trip to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal. Every detail, from our airport pickup in Delhi, the private car to Agra, our hotel in Agra and our guide for our tour of the Taj was perfect. Our guide took us to lunch at "Pinch Of Spice" in Agra which was wonderful! He was very knowledgeable and personable.

This was our first trip to India. We are experienced travelers, but generally have local contacts that help us arrange a trip. For India, we had no idea where to start. We wanted a trip to see plants, orchids, and birds, along with natural settings, but also wanted a few cultural and historical places too.
After much back and forth, we had a trip planned, all tickets bought. Then covid hit. Two years passed and yet we still wanted this trip. This spring we took the leap and am certainly glad we went. We were everywhere welcome and asked bring more foreign tourists. Imagine being at Taj Mahal and being one of a handful of people of northern European descent. Indians are touring their own country now.. and the Taj with all the colorful saris not tourists in kaki was lovely to see.
There did turn out to be a lot of driving, but that was required to get to the various places we wanted to go. we had various guides, and for all but one ( our "guide" at the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary- I would have to give him a negative rating for many reasons) we had good to excellent experiences.
The accommodations arranged were sometimes over the top for we budget travelers but as we did not know the cost it and it was already paid for , we just enjoyed it.
Over all it was nice to just not have to arrange for anything. When we finished with a cultural site or were done with a hike, our car and driver were there, no walking to the car. We seldom carried our bags. Our biggest decisions were what to have for dinner. we have never traveled like this before and I will say it was nice.
We wrote a review of each day on the trip summary for specifics.

KimKim was great to work with to organize this tour. Priya, our local specialist was very helpful. Because of the time difference, it usually took 1 day to respond. My planning of this trip was revised (by me) many times, and Priya managed all of the changes easily. All of our transportation, accommodations, and tours was seamless. The guides were knowledgable and helpful. I most appreciated our driver, Puran. He was with us from the moment we arrived in Delhi, until we departed Delhi. I felt that he was always looking out for us - our experience and our safety. I also learned a lot about India from him. I will definitely be looking to KimKim again whenever I need help planning another trip. They have local specialists in many countries.
Thank you KimKim, Priya, and Puran for a great 4 day, whirlwind tour of the Golden Triangle.

Far beyond my expectations. It really brought me out of my bad mood. Warm welcome, quick response in WhatsApp group and considerate feedback calls en route, no harassment or traps. Thanks to my driver Mr Phrahalad, my guide Mr Verma and of course Mrs Priya, all excellent and professional. Overall, great trip, worth the price.

Great driver, guides were good , wonderful tour of interesting palaces, temples. Tag Mahal. Tiger safari

Priya, was the best agent who went above and beyond to help us with this trip. We had good car, great hotels, good drivers. Only in Goa ,we could not get English speaking driver due to driving company confusion. It was not a big deal because I speak there language. Every thing was on time and coordinated very well. Priya's work was very impressive. I will recommend this travel Co.. to all my friends and i will use the same in future also.. I appreciate them very much. Thanks to Ms Priya and Mr. Ravi Tikkoo

Jay was very knowledgeable and patient. He did everything very well. I recommend him.

Must-do trip in north India to get to know important spots of Indian's history and get amused by the marvellous architectural accomplishments.
At the same time, it is a very touristic tour. One will be pushed to buy stuff by the guides (which for sure is normal and moves the economy but one should be given the option in advance).
Jaipur is a great city, walking around the city is an experience of its own.
Make sure to review (and change if you want) the hotels given by the agency before accepting the tour.
The agency provided a great driver

KimKim was fine as a tour company. I, however, found out I was not crazy about having a guide and using a touring company - though I do recognize that I would probably have had a difficult time without them. Perhaps it would have been better if I had had only one guide? Or if I didn't feel somewhat rushed from one monument to another and then was taken to tourist-trap type places to buy things at elevated prices? In any case, KimKim was very efficient - they got things together well and were very attentive. Any problems or issues I had with using KimKim were probably more just personal preference than any inadequacy on their part - though I do think they could do a better job in terms of giving more 'local' experience.

The KimKim concept works fine. It's very handy to plan your trip, communicate and have your (personal) information integrated in one platform. We like the focus on sustainability and the transparent fee structure.

Our trip in India was great. The contact with Gaurav was friendly and he was very helpful in planning the trip we had in mind.
During our stay in India we had regular contact and he always informed us when needed.

What we also liked was the fact that his organization had an eye for social issues. In Delhi our transportation was arranged by Women on Wheels (http://azadfoundation.com/our-programmes/women-on-wheels/). When we arrived in Delhi we received a LifeStraw bottle (https://www.lifestraw.com/products/lifestraw-go). We calculated that by using this bottle we saved appr. 150 PET bottles.

The most important: we had a great trip and enjoyed our stay in India very much.

So we absolute recommend Gaurav / The Folk Tales when you want to plan a trip to India!

The trip was fantastic and very well planned. Choephell, our guide, was incredibly knowledgeable and attentive and thoughtful. The food on our trek was surprising and delicious; Maila is a truly amazing camp chef. One of the days of scheduled hiking was too long, almost more than we could handle, but we’d been warned about a long day and it was necessary because we had a shorter time than usual to do the trek. I guess the lesson is to make sure to ask questions and be clear in communication when planning. In any case, we definitely felt well taken care of.

- Organization and preparation was really excellent
- The trek was amazing and our guide very helpful and had a very broad culture on Buddhism
- Our driver (Ladakh) was excellent also, super kind , drove well and also very helpful
- The home stays were overall good, we were almost always alone with the families since not too many tourists so could enjoy cocking with them an choosing our rooms. The bathrooms were very irregular, some excellent and clean other really less. Not a big deal but worst to mention. Food was fresh and good, totally veg though which we were not expecting.
- Good surprise was that we did not need to carry our backpacks during the treks except for water and some basic stuff. I did not ask before but it would be important to let people know in advance, would not have bought so techy brand new backpacks
- Very disappointed with Singge Palace. First room we had was in the annex and very basic, second was nicer but we had a mouse in it. We claimed with management and they did not even bother to apologize. Buffet was good though. Overall people were not kind nor helpful specially at reception
- For all the Delhi connections, drives, Manish, keeping our bags,,, was really flawless (except the guy who asked me how recognize me but we already talked about it and by the way he ended being super nice)
I definitely would recommend the agency !

My India trip was everything I hoped it would be and more! So grateful to the KimKim team, especially Jay and my driver Kierin; Kierin was so much fun and taught me the most as we drove from location to location exploring beautiful exotic places in South India like Munnar, Alleppy, and Kochi. My guides were all knowledgeable, friendly, and professional: special thanks to Glen (Kochi), Junis (Munnar) and Shreedevi (incredible hostess at hotel UDS in Trivandrum) - these wonderful people, among others, made my experience extra special. My goal in India was to really immerse myself in the culture, try new foods, see wildlife, and interact with local people - coming from a large metro city in California, I also wanted to get off the beaten path a bit and unplug - KimKim made the whole thing seamless and fulfilled my desire to go a bit beyond regular “tourist” type experiences - the most memorable moment, perhaps, was waking up at The Leaf in Munnar and listening to the birds while I drank my coffee and talked to a family visiting from Saudi Arabia. I will also never forget the seeing the tea plantations and the mountains in Munnar; the best smelling place in the world! Alleppy houseboating was also incredible; I had a meal I’ll probably never top! When it was time to say goodbye to Kierin, I realized I had truly made a friend, and will always remember our conversations and the laughs we shared - so thank you AGAIN KimKim for finding me the perfect road companion and for setting up my dream travel in India! I will be back and I will use KimKim again, no doubt.

We’ve just finished our Indian Odyssey, all superbly organised by Priya from kimkim. Three perfectly coordinated weeks of travel adventure & Priya was with us all the way. It felt like she was constantly in the background ensuring everything ran smoothly, that we were happy & liaising with our driver & hotels to ensure we had the best of times. Priya put together a fantastic mix of travel, adventure, activities, & relaxation using a mix of hotels; some super luxury, some more basic, some historical, some querky but all really good. We couldn’t be happier. For the full 3 weeks we knew Priya was working in the background for our enjoyment. She called us every few days for a chat & report on how we felt the trip was going. We thought this was really good and it gave us confidence in what we were doing. She made the whole planning of the trip easy. Prompt and polite and always on hand with solutions and suggestions during the planning stage. She asked a few questions as to what we enjoy doing and magically produced a great itinerary. The local agent she used to represent kimkim, Active India was fabulous and every member of that team punctual, professional & polite. Puran, our driver was superb, he kept us safe, got us everywhere without any issue and totally focussed on our comfort and enjoyment. Totally reliable - there every step of the way. If we did a train journey an Active India rep magically appeared at our seat at destination to assist with bags & getting to the car, they took us to checkin counters at airports - all making the trip totally stress free.
We highly recommend Priya from KimKim to plan your Indian trip & need to extend a big thank you to the whole team for enduring our trip was so fantastic.